The Federal Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, The Hon IanMacfarlane, today announced that CSR Sugar will receive a federal governmentresearch grant as part of a second wave of their Renewable Energy DevelopmentInitiative (REDI) funding program.

Over a three year period the $5 million grant package will form part ofCSR sugar’s funding of a research program aiming to develop a novel feedstockfor environmentally and economically sustainable production of ethanol. Increasing the energy intensity of crops hasthe potential to improve the international competitiveness of both theAustralian biofuels and sugar industries.

The research, a collaboration between CSRSugar, The University of Queensland and their commercialisation companyUniQuest, focuses on the development of high-yieldingsugarcane varieties to be used as a feedstock for ethanolbiofuelproduction.

”Preliminary glass house results from growing high yielding sugarcanevarieties for ethanol feedstock have been promising, but the technology has yetto be proven in the field”, said Professor Robert Birch, who leads the researchprogram at The University of Queensland.

CSR Sugar CEO Mr Ian Glasson said “It is early days as outcomes capableof commercialisation are not expected for at least five years. However, if the project is successful, CSR Sugar intends to make the technology commercially available to the Australiansugar industry, consistent with market demand.”

"This research is an integral component of CSR Sugar’s ongoing commitmentto supporting innovation within the Australian sugar industry and is a primeexample of the merits of industry partnering with Government.”